


Forest Fire

by s_u_n_b_i_r_d



Category: Xiaolin Showdown (Cartoon)
Genre: AU, Aged-Up Character(s), Angst, Beauty and the Beast Elements, F/F, Get it?, I'm a genius, Jealousy, M/M, Multi, Not the Monkey Wrench! universe, One-Sided Attraction, Secret Relationship, Slow Burn, Underage Smoking, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, because dating another boy is one thing, but dating your enemy is a big no-no, forest fire?, no betas for this fic we die like men, oh ho ho, slow burn?, star-crossed lovers, they're all teenagers around 16-18, well not exactly, with Kimiko as the Beauty and the OC as the Beast
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24619852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/s_u_n_b_i_r_d/pseuds/s_u_n_b_i_r_d
Summary: Nothing good ever happens when Fire meets Wood.
Relationships: Clay Bailey/Jack Spicer, Jermaine/Omi (Xiaolin Showdown), Kimiko Tohomiko/Original Female Characters
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11





	1. She Lit A Fire (Part 1)

**Author's Note:**

> hey y'all. it's your bird Sunbird. i'm still working on MW!, but lately i've been inspired to write something for this crack-pairing between Kimiko Tohomiko, resident Xiaolin Dragon of Fire, and my female OC Timber Wilde, the 'Xiaolin' Dragon of Wood. i designed Timber to be the diametric opposite of Kimiko in pretty much every way, and that, combined with the unique dynamic of their elements, eventually led to me shipping them in a sort of Catradora/Bubbline way. and thus, the Forest Fire pairing was born!
> 
> LEARNING TIME!
> 
> so as i'm sure you all know, fire burns wood. fire uses wood as fuel and burns brighter and stronger and longer because of it. seems like a pretty destructive, one-sided relationship, right? wood is good for fire, but how could fire possibly be good for wood?
> 
> but the thing is - it honestly can be! fire is a part of nature, and forest fires are an essential part of the ecosystem of a forest! forest fires burn away dead trees and decaying plants, returning those nutrients within them to the soil. they also clear away thick growth in the underbrush so sunlight can reach the forest floor, as well as eliminate weeds and invasive insects so native plants can grow and thrive. they can also help young trees grow (which are usually strong enough to survive forest fires anyway), and after the fire is over, birds and small animals make their homes in the remnants of burned trees as new plants grow from the nutrients released by the fires, leading to a greater diversity of species.
> 
> Wood supports Fire and helps it burn brightly through the bitter cold of winter and the darkness of the darkest night. And Fire helps Wood let go of what it no longer needs so it can grow back healthier and stronger than ever.
> 
> these elements are good for each other. 
> 
> but only when they're in balance.

"Kim, on your left!"

Whirling around at the sound of Raimundo's voice, the Dragon of Fire dodged just in time to evade the incoming fist of a giant marble goddess statue. With cold, stone eyes that glowed in the shadows of the ancient ruins, the statue turned to Kimiko once more. The moonlight bleeding through the cracks in the ceiling cast long, ominous shadows over her lovely face. As the Dragon of Fire began to calculate the best possible options for what to do next, the statue raised her battle axe high above her head, preparing to strike. But just before she could land her blow, a column of rock exploded out of the wall and sent her flying across the room, where she hit the wall and fell to pieces.

"You alright there, Kimiko?!"

From across the room, Clay Bailey took a step forward, worry etched onto his features. Wiping the sweat off of her brow, Kimiko smiled and gave him a thumbs up in thanks. "Yeah," she panted. "Thanks for the save, Clay!"

Relieved to see her safe, Clay smiled and tipped his hat at her before sinking into the earth, only seconds before he was crushed by another goddess statue's foot. Ears perking up at a noise from behind, Kimiko leapt up into the air, her black Shoku robes shimmering in the light of her flames. "Shoku Mars! FIRE!"

The place? A crumbling lunar temple deep in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. The time? A half an hour until sunrise, and counting. The army of stone women had been a surprise, to be sure, but even with the vast reserves of enchanted soldiers coming out of the woodwork, it was nothing the Xiaolin Dragons couldn't handle. To Kimiko's disappointment, her element on its own wasn't that much of an issue for gigantic stone ladies armed to the teeth with weapons of obsidian and jade. But they were, however, quite vulnerable to explosive attacks from the Star Hanabi, as well as the lava she and Clay created together. As the two watched five statues sink into a lake of fire they had summoned, Omi rode a tidal wave over another group of statues, trapping them in a wall of ice. Raimundo cheered out overhead as he rode a strong wind over the ice, and as he flew down to Omi and helped him trap another statue in the eye of a small-scale hurricane, a brash young warrior ran through the battlefield, the only spot of red in a crowd of black-robed Dragons. Body alive with adrenaline and excitement, Jermaine Thompson Forrester leapt up into the air and jumped onto the shoulder of an especially large, especially muscular, goddess statue. "Ay! Over here!"

Reacting to his voice, the enormous stature turned to see where the noise had come from. She was not the only one who had heard him. Nearby, a second statue spotted Jermaine winking at her from her sister's shoulder. Eyes glowing bright, she raised her two swords at him and rushed forth with surprising speed. But when she jumped up into the air to attack, Jermaine raised his hand, the Shen Gong Wu on his arm twinkling in the darkness.

"Golden Tiger Claws!"

Quick as lightning, the Wudai Warrior ripped through reality and jumped into the portal to safety, just before the statue's stone sword came into contact with her sister's shoulder. A large chunk of rock fell to the earth, and though her facial expression did not - and could not - change, the injured statue turned to her sister with something like tranquil rage. But before she could act on it, a movement caught her eye, and she looked up to watch Jermaine fall through a portal onto the other statue's head. "What's wrong?" he teased. "Can't keep up?"

Wordlessly, the broken statue tried to strike him with her hammer, but Jermaine just opened up another portal and left her to smash her sister's head into smithereens. And on and on it went. Bouncing back and forth between the statue's with surprising speed, it only took another minute or so before Jermaine was standing triumphant over a pile of rubble, clapping the dust off his hands. "Now _that's_ how we do it in Brooklyn!"

"Jermaine!"

While the other Dragons continued to fight on, Omi leapt from one ice pillar to the next until he stuck a perfect landing in front of a surprised Wudai Warrior. "You must be more careful!" he scolded, effortlessly washing away three more approaching enemies without looking away. "I realize you have game - !"

"That's 'got game', Omi," said Jermaine, warping away to avoid a stone arrow.

"Either way!" snapped Omi, "You cannot be so reckless in battle!" Flipping backwards to avoid a marble fist, Omi summoned a strand of water, thin as a ribbon and as long as a whip. Spinning around in a fluid, graceful motion, Omi directed the water down through the air, slicing the offender in two. "Using yourself as bait is a dangerous tactic! What if you were to get hurt?!"

"Omi, _dawg,"_ sighed Jermaine as he passed through another portal. "We've been over this already! I'm a Shoku Warrior now! I can take care of myself!"

"That does not mean you have free reign to needlessly endanger yourself without purpose!"

"Oh, boy," groaned Rai, blowing a statue into some lava. "Here we go."

"Are they...?" Nearly dropping the Star Hanabi, Kimiko peered through the darkness from atop Clay's shoulders. "Are they seriously going to fight about this again? Right here? _Right now?"_

"Sure looks like it. Aw, Hell." Lowering the brim of his hat in secondhand embarrassment, Clay let out a sigh as he motionlessly summoned stalagmites and stalactites that crunched through the statues like teeth. "If this is gonna keep happening every time we bring Jermaine on a mission - "

"CHILL, Omi!" Falling through another portal overhead, Jermaine landed right before the Dragon of Water, nostrils flaring in anger. "I wasn't 'endangering myself,' I was fighting! That's why I came here with you guys - to do my part and help you find the Canis Minor!"

"Yes!" Omi agreed, puffing up like a rooster. "That is precisely my point!" Ignoring the advancing stone women around him, Omi marched up to Jermaine, standing on his tiptoes in an effort to seem taller. "You are here to help us retrieve the Tracking Shen Gong Wu! You are NOT here to risk your safety! You are NOT here to put yourself in the line of fire! I thought I made it clear to you that we could handle the fighting on our own! Why do you never listen?!"

"Look, man, I didn't start this fight! But I saw an opportunity to help! So, I helped! What's so bad about that?!"

"Uh, guys? Can we do this later?" Holding tight to the string of his favorite Shen Gong Wu, Raimundo ran across the walls, defying gravity as he evaded an onslaught of stone arrows. Crying out like a falcon about to strike, Alizeh's Kite shone through the darkness, its colors dancing off of the faces of the goddess statues. Spreading its wings threateningly with another cry, the avian kite dove through the army with incredible speed, slicing the statues apart with its razor sharp string. Whistling sharply with two fingers, Raimundo summoned the Kite back to his side, where it landed on his arm and gave him an affectionate nuzzle. "We're kind of in the middle of someth - "

"We do not NEED your help, Jermaine!" snapped Omi, ignoring Raimundo completely. "YOU are still a Wudai Warrior. We are Xiaolin Dragons! We have our training, we have Shen Gong Wu, we have our elements - !"

"Tch. Again with the same old 'elements' speech." Rolling his eyes, Jermaine stood tall and crossed his arms. "So I don't have powers. So what? It's not like your element kept me from whupping your butt during our last sparring session."

Omi stiffened, a look of absolute rage on his face. In the distance, Kimiko covered her mouth, Raimundo's jaw fell open, and Clay shook his head and winced. "Ooh...Not a good move, pardner."

Another statue ran towards Omi, but without even moving, the water around their ankles rose up, shaped itself into a shark, and devoured the poor stone goddess before it could even get close. "That," Omi hissed through gritted teeth. "Is irrelevant to this, _Jermaine._ And we agreed _it was a draw!"_

"Man, you actually believed me?! Come on! I just said that so you wouldn't be stone-wallin' me all day afterwards!" Throwing up his hands in frustration, Jermaine opened a portal, dodged the statue that was running towards him, and let it warp away above Clay and Kimiko's lava pit. "I don't get it! Why do you keep wigging out about this, Omi?! It's embarrassing!"

"I would not be 'wigging out' if you would just listen to some sense, Jermaine!"

"Why do you always think I have to do what YOU say?! Why do you keep giving me orders?! Why do you keep pulling rank and forcing me to fall in line?! What, am I not my own person or something?!"

"No! I-I mean, yes! I mean, o-of course you are - !"

"Then how about you start treating me like it?! I'm not some little kid you need to take care of! I'm not an Apprentice that doesn't know what he's doing! I'm a Wudai Warrior! _And your boyfriend!_ Why can't you just **trust** me?!"

"BOYS?!"

Broken out of their argument, the couple turned at the sound of Kimiko's voice. With sinking stomachs, they saw that they were surrounded. As row after row of goddess statues slowly advanced on them in a perfect circle, weapons raised, the other Dragons began to run towards the center of the room, leaping into action. "Shoku Wu Xing Formation!" shouted Raimundo, a bright white aura beginning to glow at the edges of his body. "Omi! Get your butt over here, NOW!"

Anger evaporating immediately, Omi grabbed Jermaine's hand and pulled him towards the center of the room, hurriedly guiding him in the middle of the circle the other Dragons were forming. Realizing the danger of the situation, Jermaine watched in wide-eyed silence as the auras of the other Dragons began to illuminate the dark ruins. Omi clasped his hands together and lowered his head, now a shimmering blue, deeper and truer than any ocean. Closing his eyes and assuming his favorite Tai Chi stance, Clay shone a soothing, earthy yellowish-orange like a sunrise over a desert vista. And as Raimundo stood tall and allowed his aura to glow brighter with the chaotic energy of a hurricane, Kimiko stared defiantly into the lifeless eyes of her foes and burned a fiery, passionate, sunset red.

"Shoku Wu Xing Formation!" they shouted, their united voices echoing off the walls.

"Shoku Neptune! Water!"

"Shoku Mars! Fire!"

"Shoku Jupiter! Earth!"

Shoku Astro! Wind!"

Eyes widening at the raw power blowing across his face, Jermaine stood back in awe as their auras combined and bled into each other into a great continuous rainbow, snaking and weaving through the darkness like the Northern Lights. As the army of goddess statues looked up and dropped their weapons at the sight, the rainbow transformed itself into a gigantic Chinese dragon. It roared loudly and shook the walls with its thunderous voice, and then, without any warning, it shot forth and eviscerated the army with unparalleled strength.

Bones vibrating from the elemental power that filled the room, Jermaine instinctively curled up into a ball, crouching on the floor and protecting his head. There was noise, there was wind, there was the sound of roaring, angry oceans and crashing, rumbling earthquakes.

There was a rush of heat that singed the hair on his arms and legs.

And then, there was silence.

Opening his eyes slowly, Jermaine looked up.

Something was looking back at him.

Crying out in surprise, the Wudai Warrior fell backwards onto his rear end, breathing heavily as the gigantic Dragon stared back at him with blank, stoic eyes, shimmering in the darkness. As his heart pounded in his chest, something from behind - no, someone - put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Jermaine turned, his eyebrows flying up when he met Omi's tired eyes. The Dragon of Water smiled gently at him, and as his fear lifted, Jermaine smiled back. Wordlessly, Omi took his hand, entwining their fingers together. Realizing too late what he was doing, Jermaine gasped and murmured in surprise as the shorter boy guided his hand closer to the shining beast. Swallowing in fear, Jermaine glanced sideways at Omi, and when his boyfriend smiled wider and nodded back, Jermaine let out a deep breath...and pressed his palm on the great Dragon's snout.

A deep, resonating sound of approval rumbled through the cave, and with a silent smile, the Dragon pressed itself against Jermaine's hand like a cat and closed its eyes before breaking apart into millions of particles of beautiful, iridescent light.

As the other Dragons walked closer to the two boys, watching in awe, Jermaine lowered his hand and leaned back against Omi, spellbound. "Wow," he whispered.

"...I do trust you."

Perking up at the sound of Omi's voice, Jermaine looked up as Omi brought his face over Jermaine's shoulder. "Jermaine, I do trust you. You are the most important person in the world to me, and I trust you with my life. But...but I don't want to see you get hurt." Sagging onto the other boy's body, Omi looked away in shame with a sigh. "When we're sparring, I see how strong you are. How strong you've _become._ And It makes me so proud to see how much you've learned ever since you came to train with us at the Temple. But when we leave the grounds and enter battle...it is different. I start to think about all of the challenges we could face, and I start to worry that one day, you will find one that you cannot overcome. One I will not be able to protect you from." Frustrated by his own fears, Omi hugged Jermaine from behind, burying his face into the other boy's shoulder. "Jermaine, you mean so, so much to me! If ANYTHING happened to you because I was too foolish to stop it - !"

"Hey." Placing his hand on the other boy's cheek, Jermaine turned around and pressed his forehead against Omi's. "Hey, it's okay. It's okay. I didn't know you felt that way, doll. I'm sorry I got mad at you earlier."

"And I am sorry I keep holding you back," sighed Omi. "You are a talented fighter, Jermaine. Far more talented than I could ever hope to be."

"You sure?" Jermaine grinned. "Because last time I checked, I couldn't pull a rainbow dragon out of my butt."

Despite himself, Omi snickered at his words, and while he was distracted, Jermaine leaned forward and stole a kiss. A few seconds passed before he pulled away, leaving the Dragon of Water starry-eyed and blushing as he stared off into space. Cocking his head to the side with a raised eyebrow, Jermaine held his boyfriend by the shoulders and stroked his cheek. "From now on, we got each other's backs. You look out for me, I look out for you. Deal?"

Eyes shimmering with emotion, Omi giggled and booped their noses together. "Deal."

As the two laughed together and shared another kiss, the other three Dragons sighed in relief and smiled. "So," said Kimiko, placing a hand on her hip. "What's the plan now, Rai?"

"Tch. Good question." Eyes growing serious, Raimundo shifted back into Leader Mode as he tapped his chin in thought. "We managed to take down our biggest threat in the ruins, but there might be other enemies hiding in this temple, and we're running out of time. We've only got, what, twenty minutes until the sun comes up?"

"Eighteen, actually," corrected Clay, pulling down his shirt sleeve and holding up the sleek, glowing watch on his wrist.

"Ooh," groaned Kimiko, wincing at the dwindling seconds on the digital clock. "That's not good."

"Nice watch, though." Eyes lighting up, Rai socked Clay in the shoulder with a playful smile. "Lemme guess, another gift from your girlfriend?"

"U-Uh...! Y-Yeah!" stammered Clay, hastily hiding his arm behind his back. "She, uh, threw a real hissy-fit when I showed up late to our last three dates, so she made - I mean BOUGHT me this. Said it might help me organize my time more responsibly, or somethin'. Heh heh!" Laughing nervously, Clay scratched the back of his head nervously. "He's always looking out for me!"

"He?"

"SHE! She." Glancing away, a light blush dusted the cowboy's freckled cheeks. "I-I-I meant to say 'she'."

"Wow. Hair-trigger temper, buying you boring 'practical' gifts..." Raimundo snorted and elbowed Kimiko in the ribs. "Sounds like you two would get along just fine, huh, Kimiko?"

Snorting out smoke through her nostrils, Kimiko growled and punched Raimundo in the stomach. As Raimundo keeled over and alternated between coughing in pain and laughing like the troll he was, a sudden ghostly howl echoed through the air. All went still as every Xiaolin Warrior stopped what they were doing and looked up, feeling a chill run down their spines at the lonely sound, and from within the bag Raimundo carried over his shoulder, another howl, just as loud and just as sorrowful, responded in turn.

"W-Was that...?" asked Kimiko, stepping back.

"The Canis Minor." Snapping back into Leader Mode, Raimundo eased the bag off of his shoulder and reached inside for the Shen Gong Wu that waited there. Carved from the deepest, blackest stone, the Canis Major stared back at him, its wolflike features catching the light in a way it hadn't been before. As the other warriors circled around their leader, the dark little totem began to glow from within, a piercing pattern of stars illuminating the black stone with the cosmic majesty of the constellation it was named after. As it shook and vibrated in Raimundo's hands, its eyes began to shine with a bluish white light, and its low, mournful cry filled the ruins once again.

"What's going on?" asked Jermaine, leaning closer.

"The Canis Major is seeking out its sister Wu!" cried Omi. "That must mean it's somewhere nearby!"

Sure enough, another howl echoed out from the depths of the lunar temple, high and shrill and almost hysterical in its desperation. Shivering from the chilling sound, Kimiko hugged herself as she felt that cry tug at her heartstrings. Turning to look over her shoulder, she eyed the four passageways waiting on the other side of the room, glancing from one to the other in frustration. "I can't...I can't tell which one we should go through!" she said, straining her ears to hear. "The echo's too loud, it just sounds like it's coming from everywhere all at once!"

"If we don't hurry and rustle up that Wu, the sun'll rise, and the Temple will disappear." Clay turned to Rai. "We'll have to wait until the next full moon."

"Then we got no choice," said Raimundo, straightening in resolution. "Everybody, split up and find that Wu! Clay, you take the tunnel on the far right. Omi and Jermaine, far left. I'll take this one," he said, pausing to point down the second passageway, "And Kimiko - !"

"On it!" Without another word, the Dragon of Fire took off running, sprinting through the shadowy tunnel as fast as she could go. "I'll meet you back at the entrance!" she called out.

"Kimiko! WAIT! I was gonna give you this!" Acting on instinct, Raimundo began to chase after her, but a heavy hand pulled him back before he made it far. "Rai, there's no time! We gotta move, now!"

As Omi and Jermaine disappeared down their own tunnel, Raimundo caught his breath and nodded. "You're right," he murmured, "S-Sorry, it's just - she ran off before I could - !"

"I know, Rai." Eyebrows knitting together in concern, Clay squeezed his friend's shoulder gently and smiled. "I know."

Looking down at his feet, Raimundo's ears turned red as he bit his lip and remained silent.

"Kimiko's a big girl, and the toughest person I know. Wu or no Wu, she can handle herself." As a sadness flickered across his eyes, Clay frowned as he stepped back. "You're gonna have to tell her sooner or later, Rai."

Suddenly, the Canis Major in Rai's hands began to shake again, this time more violently than before, and the conversation was broken by another loud howl.

"Uh..." stammered Clay, as he felt a strange rumble through the earth, "Maybe not right now, though!"

"Later, definitely later!" Scrambling to shift back into the proper mindset, the Dragon of Wind pushed the Canis Major into Clay's hands before taking off. "See ya, dude!" he shouted, disappearing into the dark passageway. "And good luck!"

"You too, pardner!" Watching his leader fade into the shadows, Clay looked down at the Shen Gong Wu in his hands and ran a thumb over its face. "Well, Balto," he sighed. "I guess it's just you and me."

In the low light of the ruins, the Canis Major gleamed happily back at him.

Smiling despite the situation, Clay straightened his hat and tossed the Wu into the air. "CANIS MAJOR!"

There was a rush of wind and celestial light, and the stone totem above Clay's head cracked open and shifted into what looked like the night sky. Then, one constellation in particular began to glow, bright and hot and fierce, and the shapeless void of space shrunk into itself and took form. With a deep bark and a wagging tail, an enormous celestial wolf landed in front of Clay, licking him affectionately as he laughed. "That's my girl!" he said approvingly. "Who's my favorite girl? Who's Daddy's pretty little girl?"

 _ **"WOOF!"**_ barked the giant wolf, wagging her tail faster and pressing her cold nose up to his face.

"I missed you too, sweet thing! Say, how about we play our favorite game?" Eyes filled with admiration, Clay scratched the enormous she-wolf behind the ear. "Fetch? You wanna play fetch? You wanna help Daddy find a Shen Gong Wu!"

The wolf threw back its head and howled excitedly, spinning around in a circle.

"All righty, then! Come on, girl! Let's go and get your sister!"

Tossing him up into the air with a shove of her snout, the Canis Major - or, "Balto", as Clay had named her - barked again as she felt him land on her back with a loud "Yeehaw!". As he whooped and cheered in delight, she immediately took off running, sprinting down the tunnel as fast as her paws could carry her. As her sister Wu called out to her from somewhere deep in the ruins, Clay held fast to Balto's fur and smiled. "Good luck, fellas," he whispered. "And hurry."

\----------------------

Somewhere in the ruins, a lone figure stopped in her tracks at the sound of a strange howl overhead.

Deep in the heart of the lunar temple, the full moon shone over a sacred grotto, its pale light illuminating the waters surrounding a lone island. Half hidden from centuries worth of moss, fungi and overgrowth, a tall, regal statue looked peacefully down at her hands, now empty after over a thousand years of silent protection. At her feet, a teenage girl turned around to look over her shoulder, cradling the Canis Minor in her arms as she cocked her head and listened to the distant howl. Hidden in the shadow of the queenly goddess statue, the faint, telltale glow of her lit cigarette was the only thing that illuminated her face. "Tch. _Should have known they'd come."_ Breathing out a plume of smoke that rose to the ceiling like a snake, the girl's lips moved in the dim light as she held the Canis Minor to someone behind her. "Better keep this safe for me, Venus. Looks like we've got company."

"Ugh! Are you serious?!" As a pair of vines took the Wu from the girl's hands, a voice in her backpack groaned in exasperation. "Man, I _HATE_ those stupid kids! How do they keep finding us?!"

"They're not looking for us," corrected the girl, narrowing her eyes. "They're looking for the Wu."

"Whatever, just hurry up and get outta here already, will ya, Babe?! The last time we ran into them, that trashy little fire one burnt some of my nectar glands when I tried to eat her! It's been almost a month and it _still_ hurts! I can't even stress-eat, it just makes it hurt worse! Burning a girl's mouth...Who does that?! SERIOUSLY?!"

"Shh..." Petting the vine on her shoulder comfortingly, the girl took another drag before reaching into her tattered green coat. Ripping open the packet of seeds, the girl scattered them all across the grass beneath her feet and tapped the ash off of her cigarette. As another howl echoed through the air, her eyes began to glow a vivid, poisonous green. "Wood."

The seeds at her feet immediately responded to her voice, sinking below the ground and worming their way deep into the soil. As they sprang to life before the girl's eyes, a strange mouth poked out of the girl's backpack, pink lips frowning in worry. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold up! Babe, WHAT are you doing?!"

"What does it look like?" replied the girl as she guided the thorns at her feet up out of the earth. "I've been running from the Xiaolin Dragons ever since the day we met, and you know what? I'm tired." Snarling in frustration, the girl watched as a bevy of rose bushes surrounded her and stretched out into the distance, their vibrant blue flowers glowing under the moonlight. "I'm sick of running away," she whispered fiercely as the thorns on the bushes began to grow dangerously long and lethally sharp. "Let's see THEM run, for once in their stinkin' lives."

"You're actually gonna fight them? Seriously?" Flipping the flap of the backpack open, a gigantic Venus Flytrap finally came into full view as she placed her vines on the girl's shoulders like a concerned sister. "Look, I know we talked about confronting your problems head-on last night, but I was being metaphorical! I didn't mean like this!"

"What's the matter?" The girl glanced back at the talking plant with a playful raised eyebrow. "You don't think I can take them on, Vee?"

"I mean, maybe?! One or two of them, yeah, but not all six! Not all at once!" Shaking her gold and green head disapprovingly, Venus wove her vines around the girl's body, lowering her lips to her ear. "Look, Timber, you know me, okay? Like, you KNOW me. I'm ride-or-die no matter what, and I am ALWAYS down for a fight - but Baby Girl, are you sure this is a ride you're ready to get on?! I mean, really? Really? Are you _sure_ about this, Timber Wilde?"

From within the backpack, the Canis Minor cried out for its sister Wu. In the distance, the Canis Major cried back.

Breathing out smoke once more, Timber Wilde relaxed her shoulders as she stepped into the moonlight, her brown eyes alive with determination. "They wanted to meet the Dragon of Wood, didn't they? They wanted me so, SO bad that they chased me down to the corners of the Earth. Did you forget how they hunted us down like animals?! The days we spent, running and running for miles without food or water?! All those nights we couldn't sleep because we were SURE that they were gonna show up and try to mold me into another soldier for their STUPID war?! They never stopped, they never left us alone, I BEGGED them to leave me alone - and they just kept coming! They only stopped when I started fighting back, and even then, it won't hold them off forever! It's not enough! It'll never be enough! They don't care about what I want or who I am! They're just gonna use me and throw me away, just like EVERY other person in my life! No matter how far I run, how much I try to hide, they're gonna come after me again eventually, and when they do - !"

A comforting vine stroked her long blonde hair, and Timber suddenly realized she was hyperventilating. Looking down at her shaky hands, she willed herself to calm down as she tilted her head back and looked up at the monstrous plant. "These people don't know when to quit. I've tried getting the message across to them in every single way I could. I've tried being 'nice.' But you know what? They don't listen. They lie to themselves and say they're the good guys, but the truth is they're just like everyone else. They're liars, they're trash, and they only care about themselves. I'm sick of being afraid of other people, Venus. It's about time other people started being afraid of ME. And besides." Reaching up, Timber stroked the side of Venus's head, smiling as the flytrap instinctively nuzzled into her touch. "We got a score to settle. You're my best friend, Vee. There's no way I'm gonna let them get away with hurting you."

Another howl echoed overhead, and after a beat of stunned silence, the flytrap laughed, revealing row after row of long, sinister teeth. Shaking her head, she rose up into the air, watching as all of the dead plants in the grotto slowly came back to life, their leaves turning bright, dangerous colors, their blossoms growling and snapping their teeth. "You're playing with fire, Timber Wilde. One of these days, you're gonna get yourself burned. But you're my best friend too, Baby Girl. I got your back, if you got mine."

"We stick together," answered Timber, grinning as more vines began to sprout from the seeds in her clothes and wind around her arms. "Just like we always have." As bark began to consume her body like armor, Timber looked over her shoulder with a malicious smile. "So. You up for some midnight snacks?"

Laughing with delight, Venus the Flytrap licked her lips hungrily, her saliva dripping from her mouth like iridescent battery acid.

_"Always."_


	2. She Lit A Fire (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrestled with the two options of either going the rom-com, humor route for this chapter, or the angsty drama route

“ _Pant_.... _pant_...I made it.”

Squinting through the shadows and stumbling over a tree root, Kimiko looked around curiously at the heart of the Lunar Temple. Sadly, there wasn’t much to see. The room was shrouded in pure darkness, with the last dying rays of the full moon shining through the pin-sized holes between the bevy of leaves overhead. They shone down on the ground below in a perfect circle, forming a spotlight at the edge of the grotto right in front of where she was standing. As Kimiko walked into the light and allowed her vision to adjust, her bright blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Huh. For a sacred grotto dedicated to a moon goddess, it sure is _dark_ in here. Jeez," she huffed, looking around with her rosy lips curved into a pout. "I can't see anything!”

Suddenly, the ground below her feet began to rumble and quake, violently and furiously. Yelping in surprise, Kimiko grabbed onto a nearby branch to keep herself steady, hanging on tight as she watched the earth under her little slice of moonlight move up and down unevenly. As soon as the rumbling stopped, the Dragon of Fire snapped back into action, swinging off of the branch and landing back in the circle of moonlight. "Focus, Kimiko! Sunrise is almost here! You gotta get the Canis Minor before this place disappears at dawn!” Pulling out the Wu she had tucked away in her black robes, Kimiko cried out into the darkness, her voice reverberating off the walls as she invoked its name. “Star Hanabi!”

The ruby in the center of the Star began to glow with a pinkish-red light, and as soon as it did, Kimiko bolted into the shadows of the chamber, her path now revealed to her through the Wu's gentle glow. As swift and graceful as ever, she flipped from stepping stone to stepping stone, making her way over the water and the tangle of pond weeds in record time. When her feet touched solid ground again, she didn't let up, weaving her way through the thicket of thorns that awaited her effortlessly. Making it to the other side of the thorns without so much as a scratch on her person, Kimiko held the Star steady, careful not to trip on the other tree roots that seemed determined to trip her up, just like the one back at the entrance. As she let the Star's gentle light guide her way, Kimiko caught sight of another light steady growing in the distance. A vibrant blue glow began to shine in the open palms of the final goddess statue in the Lunar Temple, and as Kimiko ducked under branches and jumped over roots, her eyes lit up with excitement. "That's it!" she cried. "The Canis Minor! I see it!" Overcome with joy and relief, the Dragon of Fire raced through the darkness with an extra burst of speed....

And barely noticed when her foot brushed up against a long, hairlike trigger.

So fast was she in her actions, so nimble, so focused, that she almost didn't notice when she stopped walking on solid ground, instead treading over something fleshy and soft. But years of training and honing a fighting instinct caught up to her and triumphed where her own attention span had failed, and the moment she realized something was wrong, she felt a burst of air from underneath.

...A breeze?

...No.

_A breath._

Eyes widening in horror, the Dragon of Fire leapt up into the air just in time before the jaws of the creature below her snapped shut, teeth gnashing together with an audible sharpness that send chills up her spine. Grabbing hold of a vine overhead, Kimiko's heart fluttered in her chest as she held the Star steady and shone its rosy red light down on the ground below. Beneath the pinkish light of the Star Hanabi's ruby, a familiar figure with hundreds of teeth and no eyes to speak of stared back up at her, their mouth curling up into a vicious, feral smile. Memories of an encounter with a dark, hungry mouth began to flicker at the edges of Kimiko's mind, and her stomach sank as she whispered a name into the darkness. _"Venus?"_

Down below, the mutated Flytrap bared her teeth viciously and let out a loud growl, something between a mama bear's furious roar and a jaguar's snarl. Before Kimiko could process what was happening, the vine she was holding onto wound its way around her wrists, causing her to drop the Star Hanabi in surprise. As she screamed while more vines began to wind their way around her body in the dark, Venus licked her lips and hungrily snapped up the Wu as it hurtled to the ground below. Squirming and trying to catch her breath as the vines gripped her tightly like boa constrictors, Kimiko yelped as she felt them dangle her upside down just as the room slowly came into view. Dozens of vibrant plants, flowers, and fungi began to appear in her vision as patches of bioluminescent moss began to glow from the walls and floor of the room. Within moments, the once-dark chamber was now flooded with outrageous, disorienting colors straight out of a rave. As the Dragon of Fire took in the riotous hues and strange, alien plant life, her eyes fell on a series of gigantic, green-gold buds in front of her, tinged with pink and sparkling like glitter. The enormous buds began to quiver and move, and as they opened up to reveal bright pink mouths full of long, sharp teeth, the biggest bud of all unfurled in front of her like Aphrodite's clamshell, revealing a familiar head of blonde hair. "Hey, Princess," teased Timber, lounging casually on the soft pink inside of Venus's mouth. "How's it hanging?"

 _"Wilde,"_ spat Kimiko, glowering at the other girl. "I should've known - _ugh!_ \- you'd be here! _Mmph!_ You - _URGH!_ \- AND your pet ragweed! "

 _"Excuse_ me?!" snarled one of Venus's heads, lifting itself up to meet Kimiko's eyes. "Who are YOU calling 'Ragweed'?! You wanna go, you little skank?! Come on! Let's go!"

As the Flytrap lifted her vines and curled them up into fists, a faint glimmer of gold and red in the back of her throat caught Kimiko's attention. Dizzy from the rush of blood going to her head and the smell of decay and sugar on Venus's breath, the Dragon of fire squinted into the Flytrap's gaping maw. Her heart sank as she recognized the Star Hanabi, winking in and out of sight behind Venus's tongue. "No!" she shouted, trying to worm her way out of the python-like vines. "Give! That! BACK!"

"Uh-uh-uh," purred Timber, standing up and puffing on her cigarette. "The more you struggle, the tighter their grip gets." Smiling in satisfaction at Kimiko's fierce glare, the taller girl blew a puff of smoke directly into Kimiko's face, laughing as the shorter girl began to cough and gag on the rancid stench. "Wouldn't want you to puncture a lung or get a broken rib, now would we, Princess?"

"I'm gonna break YOUR ribs as soon as I get outta here!"

Snorting and breaking out into another laughing fit, Timber shook her head and began to toss something up and down into the air. "You can try," she mocked, "But we both know what happened the LAST time you tried to take me on."

"Are you STILL bringing that up?!" cried Kimiko, too distracted to notice what Timber had in her hand. "It doesn't even count! You _cheated!_ If it hadn't been for your pollen, I wouldn't have fallen asleep and lost the Showdown!"

"Aww, _boo hoo!_ " snarked Timber, rolling her eyes. "Poor little rich girl had to go home crying to her Temple because she lost one fight! Cry me a river, sweetheart! Life's not always a bed of roses, you know - at least not for us little people!"

"Shut up!" retorted Kimiko, her voice growing sharper. "I wasn't the one crying on the day we met! Or do you not remember how bad you got your butt kicked the FIRST time you went up against me?!"

"Remember? REMEMBER?! _I still have the burn scars,_ you little pyromaniac, and so does Venus!"

"You're seriously still angry about that?! For the last time, Wilde! _YOUR! PLANT! TRIED! TO! EAT! ME!"_

"Yeah? What's your point?!"

"UGH!" Smoke beginning to trail out of her own nostrils in frustration, the Dragon of Fire looked up at Timber, her eyes burning with hatred. But before she could open her mouth to throw another insult her way, a loud howl cut through the tense atmosphere, and she finally noticed what the other girl had in her free hand. "The Canis Minor..." she whispered, her eyes widening at the small wolf totem.

"Hmmph." Smirking proudly, Timber tossed the stone Wu up in the air once more before holding it in her hands and running her fingers over its surface. "You like it? Sure was a challenge to find, but hey. We made it happen. We're a good team, right Venus?"

"Mmmhmm, you got that right, Baby Girl."

As Timber affectionately nuzzled her nose against the flytrap head closest to her, Kimiko stared open mouthed in confusion. "B-But, wait. Wait, if you found the Wu, then that means...that means the Temple won't disappear at sunrise. Then..." Trailing off, Kimiko looked around. "Then what were those tremors I felt earlier?!"

Timber didn't answer, but her smile grew wider as she snapped her fingers. Instantly, there was another loud rumbling all throughout the ground beneath their feet, and just when Kimiko feared that the Temple itself would come crashing down around them, something - dozens of somethings, actually - burst out of the ground. Shooting upwards towards the ceiling, they wriggled and writhed like snakes, and Timber herself hopped out of Venus's mouth and grabbed onto one, twirling around it like a pole. As she perched herself atop of it like a bird, Kimiko's eyes widened in understanding as she got a good long look at what it was. "Those are - "

"Roots, yeah." Stroking the root she was sitting on thoughtfully, Timber hung herself upside down like a bat, clearly enjoying herself. "Pretty clever, eh? All I had to do was make them move a little, and BAM! Instant fake earthquake! I mean, I HAD to come up with something that would make you think that the Wu was still up for grabs, otherwise you might've gotten a little suspicious. It's a good thing Tex wasn't the one who walked in here. He's smarter than the rest of you combined. He probably would have figured it out right away. Not you, though. You never think anything through, do you, Princess?" Snorting in amusement, Timber reached out and booped Kimiko on the nose. "You never, ever learn, Tohomiko. Tch. No wonder you were the last one to get your Shoku powers."

Face heating up in humiliation, Kimiko snapped her teeth at Timber's finger, relishing the way the other girl pulled away hastily. "What is your PROBLEM, Wilde?! I thought you didn't want anything to do with the Xiaolin/Heylin balance! Why do you keep coming after us?! Why do you keep taking our Wu?!"

 _"Your_ Wu? Tch. Typical self-centered BRAT." Dropping all playfulness, Timber snorted in contempt as she snapped her fingers. Instantly, the vines holding Kimiko flipped her over, and the shorter girl squeaked in pain as the taller girl grabbed her by the chin and pulled her close. "Okay, LISTEN. I know this concept is gonna be hard to wrap your pretty little head around, _Princess,_ but read my lips, and try to follow along. _The world does not revolve around you!_ I don't keep running into you because I WANT to, you hear me?! It's not you, I'm after, it's the Shen Gong Wu! And they're not YOURS just because you say they are!"

"Okay first of all - ?!" snapped Kimiko, jerking her head out of Timber's grasp. "They were all made by Xiaolin Dragons, so YES, they're OURS! And second of all, you made such a big deal of hiding and running from everything and everyone! Master Fung, Master Guan, us, even your own destiny! But you still go after Shen Gong Wu, knowing for a fact that you'll always have to deal with us because of it?! That doesn't make any sense!" Eyes bright with defiance, Kimiko looked Timber right in the eye, her ferocious face a sharp contrast with Timber's flat expression. "We respected your wishes! We realized you weren't ready to be a Dragon and we LET YOU GO, even though we should have brought you back to the Temple for your training! So WHY do you keep showing up everywhere we go?! If you really don't want to be a part of this, then why bother with the Wu at all?!"

"None of your business!" hissed Timber angrily. "Now you listen, and you listen good, Princess! I hunt Wu for my own reasons, and they've got NOTHING to do with you or those freaks you call friends, understand?!"

_"Do NOT call them that!"_

"Or what?! Huh?! Whaddya gonna do about it, Tohomiko?! _What are you gonna do to stop me?!"_

A dam inside Kimiko broke, and the very last ounce of her patience evaporated away as anger, seething and terrible and hot, begin to flow through her body like hot lava. Taking in as deep of a breath as she could, Kimiko blew a stream of fire straight at Timber's face, the brilliant orange flames a sharp contrast to the lush green all around them. Leaping back and shrieking in surprise, Timber fell back onto Venus's soft mouth, hastily patting herself down as she tried to put on the flames on her clothes. "Ugh, you rotten little arsonist!" she screamed. "

As their mistress struggled to compose herself, the vines loosened their grip just enough for Kimiko to wiggle her way free. "SHOKU MARS! FIRE!" she shouted, and as flames engulfed her body, she launched herself through the air like a shooting star and dove towards Timber with a fierce growl.

"AAAH!" Screaming from the sudden rush of heat hurtling her way, Timber gasped as she felt herself being pulled downwards. "Uh-uh!" shouted Venus, cradling Timber protectively as her other heads snarled at Kimiko up above. "I KNOW you didn't just try to go after my girl!"

Several of the other plants in the room agreed with her, their voices crying out in anger and disgust as their vines and leaves rustled in outrage. As Kimiko hovered in the air, using two jets of fire to propel herself as she looked around at the furious plants that surrounded her, Timber hopped back onto her feet and summoned her vine arms with a battlecry. "Redwood Ragnarok! WOOD!"

Instantly, the vines of the rosebushes around them began to move, snaking their way through the air and shooting after Kimiko with frightening speed and viciousness. Acting quickly, Kimiko curled herself up into a ball and cried out her next attack, executing a flawless Judo Li Flip that incinerated the vines around her and turned them to ash. Landing on the ground safely, Kimiko barely had a second to put her thoughts together before a sudden tug on her leg caught her attention. Her arms now covered in vines that left them resembling tentacles, Timber snatched Kimiko up by the ankle and threw her across the room.

Screaming as she flew through the air, Kimiko landed in the deeper waters of the grotto with an undignified SPLASH. As she swam up to the surface, coughing and sputtering, the weeds in the pond latched onto her legs and began to pull her back under. Gasping in surprise, she fought and jerked around in the water, desperately trying to keep her head above the water, but the more she struggled, the stronger the pond weeds held on. She shrieked as she felt herself being dragged under once, twice, and no matter how hard she fought back, she could already feel herself losing the battle. Acting quickly, Kimiko focused on the flames that burned deep inside of her, willing them to come up to the surface. Squeezing her eyes shut in concentration, her aura returned, the only spot of red in a room that was overwhelmingly green and blue. As she shone brighter and brighter, the murky green water around her began to boil, and soon, the entire pond had become a hot spring, with clouds of steam billowing up and shrouding the room in a thick white fog. The persistent pond weeds, suddenly thrown into an environment far too hot for them to survive in, released Kimiko as they shriveled up and wilted away, and the moment she felt herself freed she headed straight for the surface and began to move towards the safety of dry land.

Coughing and sweating in the sudden fog of steam, Timber and Venus looked around warily, searching for any sign of blue eyes or black robes. Slipping out of her shoes to move more silently across the grass, Timber kept a sharp ear out for any sound that was out of place. As she started to disappear in the fog, the monstrous Flytrap behind her remained perfectly still, growling softly as she used the photoreceptors on her stems and leaves to spot anything in the fog that Timber's human eyes were incapable of seeing. Suddenly, a flash of color and light in the ultraviolet spectrum began to move across the ground, and as it headed straight for Timber, the Flytrap's main head sped forward to shove her out of the way. _"Babe, look out!"_

_FWISH._

Crying out in pain from a direct blast to the face, the Flytrap's main head fell to the ground with a thud, groaning dizzily as she faded out of consciousness.

"VENUS!" cried Timber, reaching out for her friend, but before she could get close, a kick to her jaw sent her flying across the grass. Rolling away just in time to avoid a stream of fire, Timber summoned her vine arms once more and cracked them like whips at the other girl running through the mist.

Weaving nimbly through the fog, Kimiko evaded the vines effortlessly. A loud growling sound to her left caught her attention, and she looked up to see another one of Venus's heads rushing out of the mist to bite her head clean off. Engulfing her body with protective flames, Kimiko leapt up as soon as it lunged towards her and sent another sharp kick to the back of its head. Watching as another head was sent crashing into the grass, Timber's eyes lit up in anger as her hands hardened into fists, rough, thick bark growing down her sleeves and creating two long, claw-like arms. "GET OFF OF HER!"

Whipping her head around as she sent another one of Venus's heads off to dreamland, Kimiko cried out in surprise as a gigantic wooden fist came out of nowhere and slammed her into the Goddess Statue. As she started to slide down the smooth stone surface, Kimiko squeaked as Timber, scurrying up the statue with her tree arms, pinned her in place with a snarl. "You're gonna pay for that one, Princess!" she screamed angrily. "No one, and I mean NO ONE, lays a hand on my friends!"

"...What...friends...?"

Eyes widening, Timber watched as Kimiko, struggling to breathe, looked up and locked eyes with her, drops of red leaking out from the corner of her mouth. "You don't _have_ any friends," she croaked, her eyes aflame. Pausing to defiantly spit some blood out onto the ground below Kimiko turned back to Timber and leaned in as close as she could. "You're poison, Timber Wilde. You're rotten to the core, and then some. If it wasn't for your plants, you'd be all alone. And you know what? _You deserve to be alone."_

Timber's eyes widened, and all was silent as the Dragons of Wood and Fire stared into each other's eyes. But as the hurt in Timber's eyes gave way to pure, unsettling rage, she shook and trembled with the force of her violent emotions, grabbed Kimiko, and slammed her down on the ground. HARD. _"SHUT! UP!"_

Gasping in pain, Kimiko lifted herself up off the grass only to be tossed up into the air and slammed back down again. Then again. Then again. Then again. As she crashed into the ground for a sixth and final time, she trembled on the grass, whimpering in agony. Through the haze of pain, she could hear someone walking through the grass, and cried out as she felt herself being pulled up by her ponytail. Feebly trying to fight back, Kimiko felt a fist knock the wind out of her as it came into contact with her stomach, and suddenly, she found herself looking right into a pair of wide, doe-like brown eyes. "You don't know anything about me!" shouted Timber, voice dripping with venom. "NONE of you do! But I know YOUR type! Rich, famous, bratty little heiresses like you? You get EVERYTHING in life handed to you without even asking for it! Everything you want, everything normal people have to work and bleed and suffer for, YOU get spoon-fed to you on a silver platter! Must be nice to not have to actually WORK for anything, huh?! You don't know what I've had to do, what I've had to give up - you can't possibly understand what I've been through!"

The air was full of silence, thick and tense and as volatile as gasoline. Watching Kimiko's chest flutter up and down as she panted, Timber shook her by her ponytail like a ragdoll, furious beyond all reasoning. "Well?! What do you have to say to THAT, Princess?!"

_Ptuu!_

Snarling in disgust at the lob of spit that landed on her face, Timber threw Kimiko to the ground, where the Dragon of Fire remained far too still and far too quiet. Wiping the loogie off of her cheek with the back of her wrist, Timber turned to leave, walking up to Venus with a nod. As the gigantic Flytrap began to shrink and return to her usual size, Timber scooped her up into her backpack, carefully placing the Canis Minor right beside her as she turned around. "You know what? I'm _through_ with you, Tohomiko. I don't have to justify myself to you. I don't have to justify myself to _anyone._ People are trash...and you're no exception."

Kimiko didn't answer. In fact, she didn't move at all.

Narrowing her eyes at her motionless body, Timber scoffed and took one last puff of her cigarette before dropping it on the ground and snuffing the flame underneath her bare foot. As she began to walk out of the Chamber, her eyes glowed like two drops of snake venom in the low light. "You're all flash and no flame, Tohomiko. Let's see if those friends of yours can put up a better fight than you."

"...Don't you dare..."

Pausing in mid-step, Timber's ears perked up as a rustle of movement began to grow louder behind her. Turning around, she watched with a flat, emotionless face as the Dragon of Fire began to stand up. Slowly and painfully, Kimiko brought herself up to her feet, and though her heart-shaped face had grown pale and her hair was a mess, her brilliant blue eyes flashed like twin sapphires. _"Don't you dare touch them,"_ she spat, trembling in her growing rage.

"Pfft." Glaring back at her, Timber scowled as her aura, green as poison, green as Springtime, began to glow at the edges of her body. "You just don't know when to quit, do you, Princess?"

"No," answered Kimiko, a strange wind whipping her hair around as her own aura came forth. "I don't." Clasping her hands together in front of her face, Kimiko glowed like a sunset as she called upon her greatest power as a Xiaolin Dragon. **"SHOKU PELE! FIRE!"**

** **

** **

As Kimiko's aura engulfed her in light and flame, Timber, snarling in frustration, followed suit. **"WU XING YGGDRASIL! WOOD!"**

** **

** **

The heart of the Lunar Temple was filled with light, green and red split down the middle as raw elemental power flooded every last inch of the room. When the brilliant display subsided, the Dragons of Wood and Fire stood before each other, both in their purest elemental forms. Tree-branch antlers brushing the ceiling, Timber glared at Kimiko with brilliant emerald eyes set in a blank, empty face, her skin bark, her hair leaves. Lichen and mushrooms along her shoulders glowed threateningly as she raised her gnarled, root-like hands and screamed, her wooden face cracking open and revealing a monstrous maw. Narrowing her eyes in contempt, Kimiko, now nothing but lava in the shape of her human form, rose upwards and burned brightly as her flames went from the most breathtaking orange to a sweltering, dangerous shade of blue. As her feet melted the earth beneath her and left a trail of smoke floating up to the ceiling, Kimiko opened her own mouth and roared right back, spitting out fire in every color of the rainbow. Beyond words, beyond reason, beyond self-control, and beyond their own humanity, the two Dragons lunged forward at each other....

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The first thing that Kimiko noticed as she began to wake up was the smell of smoke, thick and familiar and overwhelmingly strong.

The second thing she noticed was the tremendous amount of pain and exhaustion that resonated throughout her entire body.

"Ugh...."

Wincing in pain as she peeled herself up off the burnt grass, Kimiko looked around at the destruction left behind from two opposing elements clashing against each other. The once peaceful chamber was in a state of utter ruin. The leaves that Timber had covered the ceiling with earlier had burnt away, allowing the gentle rays of the rising sun to shine down on the chaos below. The foliage that had grown along the walls was now wreckage and ash, the thicket of vibrant blue roses left charred and burned, with a few tongues of flame still licking away at the dead flowers around them. As she watched one fall to the ground, nothing but a shell of the lovely blossom it once was, Kimiko stood up, sagging sadly at the heartbreaking sight of the once-proud Goddess Statue, now headless and broken forevermore. As she stepped forward and stared into the peaceful stone eyes of the fallen Goddess, she almost didn't notice what was lying on the ground just beyond it.

But a loud, sorrowful whimpering sound broke her spell and caught her attention.

"...Huh?" Looking around for the source of the nose, Kimiko walked around the statue, the burnt grass crunching beneath her feet as she rounded the head and saw something moving around in the distance. Blinking in the rosy light of morning, Kimiko's eyes widened as she recognized the familiar green and gold plant, tugging at something on the grass. "Venus?"

Instead of looking up at the sound of her name, the plant, too upset to even speak, whimpered louder and kept trying to nudge the body on the grass, as loyal as a dog lying by a headstone. As Kimiko walked forward, a flash of pale blonde hair shone in the morning light, and suddenly, it hit her. _"Timber!"_

Sprawled across the grass with her long hair over her face, the Dragon of Wood failed to respond to her name, her breath coming out in shallow puffs as she curled herself up into a tiny, trembling ball. As her loyal little plant continued to sooth her, Kimiko knelt beside her, ignoring the way Venus bared her teeth and hissed at her like an angry cat. "Ohmygosh, Timber! Timber, Timber, are you okay?!"

Whimpering softly, Timber's body shifted slightly as she tried to move, and it was just enough for Kimiko to see the angry red welts burned into her back. Hands flying up to her mouth in horror, the shorter girl felt her head go light and her stomach sink as her eyes followed along the taller girl's arms, shaking her head at the sight of more burns marring Timber's tan skin. "Oh, no, oh no, what did I do?!" she whispered in horror.

Stirring back to consciousness, Timber began to shake with small sobs of pain. Blown away by how vulnerable and fragile the once horrifying girl looked, Kimiko felt tears of guilt and sorrow well up in her eyes as she carefully placed gentle hands on two safe spots on Timber's shoulders. "Timber, it's all right. It's all right. It's gonna be okay! Everything's gonna be okay! I'm not going to leave you here like this, I'm going to help you!" Swallowing and pulling back as Timber hissed in pain at her touch, Kimiko got as close as she dared, trying to keep her voice steady. "We're gonna take you somewhere safe, okay? We're gonna get you to a doctor, we're not gonna stop until we get your...your b-burns taken care of!"

"Do......uch....me....."

Breathing hard from her own fear, Kimiko leaned in closer and tilted her ear so she could hear better. "W...What?"

_** "I SAID DON'T TOUCH ME!" ** _

Before she could understand what was happening, thorns, sharp and terrible, spiderwebbed all over Timber's body from the seeds she had in her pockets. Shrieking in pain, Kimiko pulled her hands back, holding them close to her chest as she looked down in horror at the blood spilling out of the deep cuts on her palms. As the dark red drops fell to the charred ground below, she looked back up at Timber, locking gazes with the other girl. "Don't touch me!" Timber screamed, all iron and vinegar in her voice replaced with pain and fear. "Get away from me! Leave me alone!"

"T-Timber..." Sobbing from the terrible sting on her palms, Kimiko began to cry as she reached out to the other girl, too worried for her safety to be concerned or even angry with her own injury. "Timber, you're hurt, you're really, really HURT - !"

"So what?! I don't need your help!" shrieked Timber, scrambling away in terror as she began to cry. "I don't need you! I don't need anyone! I hate the Dragons, I hate the Xiaolin, I hate EVERYONE in this stupid world, and I HATE YOU! You can all go die for all I care! I don't care if I'm supposed to be saving the world! This world doesn't deserve saving! No one on this stinkin' planet deserves saving! I just wish every single person on this whole planet would just _LEAVE ME ALONE!"_ Crying in pain, Timber began to sob as she stumbled up to her feet and began to run, cradling Venus in her arms. The strap of her backpack, now burnt, broke, and as the two made their escape, the Canis Minor tumbled to the ground, its glossy black surface sparkling in the light.

"Wait! TIMBER!" Trying to get back up on her feet, Kimiko fell over a tree root and crashed back onto the grass with a grunt. As the other Xiaolin warriors ran into the room, following the distressed cries of their teammate, Kimiko brushed up against a single rose, miraculously unscathed. In a final act of loyalty to its mistress, the small blue blossom opened up and released a puff of shimmering pollen directly into Kimiko's face. Within seconds, the Dragon of Fire passed out on the ground, still reaching for Timber even as she entered a deep, dreamless sleep.

Somewhere in the distance, a rooster crowed to announce a new day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i guess we're going the angst route ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**Author's Note:**

> i may or may not keep writing ficlets for this pairing or leave this as a one-shot. so, stay tuned, maybe?


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